UM athletics has lost between 2,000 and 3,000 donors over last few years

Univ. of Maryland AD Kevin Anderson said that "in the past two to three years, the school's athletic department has lost between 2,000 and 3,000 donors, contributing to some urgent financial challenges facing Maryland athletics," according to Steve Yanda of the WASHINGTON POST. Anderson said that the "financial outlook for the Maryland athletics department is not ideal." The department is "facing a rising debt service that could reach what Anderson called a 'very significant' level in 2016," though Anderson "declined to provide specifics as to the current debt service amount ... or what it projects to be in coming years." Asked whether any of the school's 27 varsity sports are in danger of being cut, Anderson said, "No telling what could happen if we don't meet those challenges." Anderson recently hired Nathan Pine as Senior Associate AD & Chief of Staff for the athletics department, and his primary task "will be to reshape the department's strategic plan, parts of which Anderson and Pine indicated have grown outdated and insufficient in recent years." Pine, who will report directly to Anderson, "will be charged with keeping the department on track toward long-term fundraising and marketing goals." He said that the "goal is to at least have a rough draft of the plan done in the next 60 to 90 days" (WASHINGTON POST, 4/16).